COVID-19: Morrisons teams up with Deliveroo
Morrisons is teaming up with online food delivery Deliveroo to launch a new delivery scheme following the increased demand of the COVID-19 crisis
The new partnership will launch a new rapid delivery scheme from 130 of its stores.
Morrisons has followed in the footsteps of McColl’s and M&S over the last month in joining forces with Deliveroo – which already had a pre-existing agreement with Co-op too.
Thomas Brereton, retail analyst at GlobalData, said: “Barring a few exceptions (e.g. Ocado’s Zoom), most supermarkets do not have the operational capabilities to compete with Deliveroo’s delivery time offer of c.30 minutes; and, given the waiting times for traditional home delivery orders (currently two to three weeks at most grocers), the concept of a rapid delivery of essential products will be enticing for a heightened proportion of shoppers.”
Panic partnerships
However, there is a word of caution about retailers rushing into partnerships in the current unprecedented situation.
Brereton explained: “As consumers are told not to panic buy, it is also important for retailers not to panic partner. There has been no indication about the length of these collaborations, so retailers must be wary of ceding too much power to third-party operatives – and could explain why major players – notably, Tesco and Sainsbury’s – are developing in-house alternatives instead.”